Possible Interaction: Glucose and Acarbose

“ Acarbose delays the production of monosaccharides (notably glucose ) by inhibiting the alpha-glucosidases associated with the brush-border membrane of the small intestine which are responsible for the digestion of complex polysaccharides and sucrose.”

“In the liquid meal challenge tests, postprandial glucose and insulin responses were significantly lower during acarbose versus placebo treatment.”

“Aim: Acarbose , a glucose oxidase inhibitor, delays the absorption of glucose thus reducing post‐prandial blood glucose level, haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and insulin resistance in patients with diabetes mellitus and in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance.”

“Fasting levels of glucose (P < 0.0001), triglycerides (P = 0.03) and HbA1c (P = 0.003) were reduced by acarbose over the 16 weeks of treatment.”

“Initially (0–150 min), glucose (p = 0.001), insulin (p = 0.001), and GIP (p<0.001) were suppressed by acarbose , whereas later there were no significant differences.”

“Compared to placebo, acarbose treatment resulted in a decrease in mean postprandial glucose in all four strata (19 +/- 0.8 to 15.3 +/- 0.7 mmol/l: P < 0.001).”

“BACKGROUND Acarbose is a reversible inhibitor of the intestinal alpha-glucosidases, the oral administration of which delays or diminishes the postprandial increase of glucose and insulin.”

“Significant reductions in postprandial glucose were observed in both sequences with acarbose.”

“Moreover the magnitude of both glucose peak and nadir, and rate of blood glucose rise and fall were significantly reduced by acarbose as was the hypoglycemic index.”

“ Acarbose , which is clinically widely used to treat Type 2 Diabetes, is thought to act at the small intestine by competitively inhibiting enzymes that delay the release of glucose from complex carbohydrates, thereby specifically reducing post prandial glucose excursion.”